Will You Be Profitable?

The city is kind of a far cry from the car-party suburbs of Sweden. It’s absolutely beautiful, that’s the same; there are so many islands and all of them are so small that it seems like there’s not even any water between them. However, knowing how pristine the water is, it’s extremely hard to notice. Regardless of this, I learned a very important lesson here; I’m taking a break from soccer, because unfortunately, Sweden did not qualify for the World Cup.

There was a painting the Moderna Museet (modern art museum) that was an image of a classroom full of children looking intently forward, with a slate next to it. On that slate, written in chalk, was (in Swedish), the phrase “will you be profitable, my children?” (I am paraphrasing because I unfortunately already forgot the exact words). This struck me though; the Sweden I had seen before today was one of total relaxation for ages 0-99. However, now, I realized life is a lot business.

Going to the old town on Gamla Stan island and loafing around on the royal palace grounds, I noticed something as I went inside the buildings and looked at all of the artifacts. Kids had to be prepared to mature at the drop of a hat. Gustav III, as a 5 year-old prince, was told not to cry unless he was truly sad and to behave like a mature adult. At 5 years old?! Really?! Yet, this trend continues throughout the history of the Swedish Royalty. Everything is so structured within that family and the grounds are so big; at infancy, I don’t know that I’d be able to help not making mistakes with so many rooms and places and people to remember. However, this is what much of Europe is about.

Moreover, Alfred Nobel has left a shadow upon the children of the world to dream big things from their first days. His sheer genius and inventive spirit left a legacy in the Nobel Prizes that said “be profitable with yourself. Do something that’s right for the world because of your rich experience and mind and heart.” This, I think, is of great importance to me at my milestone period of college; halfway through undergrad, I’m beginning to wonder if I am profitable. And, it seems that the best way to be so is to give it all you got in anything you do. That’s my attitude for this trip and thus for life.